One of the highlights for Frosh Week this year is the Anger Management 101 Wrestling Tour at the Varsity Arena starring Dustin Diamond (a.k.a. Screech from Saved by the Bell). The Varsity sat down with Dustin before the show and chatted with him just to see what he has been up to since the Bell stopped ringing.
Varsity: How did you get hooked up with this wrestling tour?
Dustin: I’m actually not on the wrestling tour…I’m doing this as a favour for a buddy. I also know a lot of the guys on the tour and they needed someone to represent them, you know, for the management, so I’m taking that on. Aside from that, I’m also out here for Yuks Yuks. I do comedy all over the U.S. and all over Canada. I also have a movie with David Spade called Dickie Roberts and it’s coming out on Friday.
Varsity: How long have you been doing this tour?
Dustin: This is my third or fourth event at a wrestling show and I’ve only wrestled once.
V: How did you like it?
D: I don’t like it too much because I lost and it was a sort of painful experience. So I leave it to the athletes to actually get in there and work.
V: Do you travel to other campuses in Canada and in the states?
D: Yeah, I do a lot of campuses here and colleges in the states. I’ve done about 11 or 12 appearances out here and then from California to New York to Florida and every state…I’ve done maybe 700 colleges.
V: Tell me about your instructional chess video.
D: Yeah, I teach for the U.S. Chess Federation and I put out an instructional chess video. It’s the first instructional video to incorporate comedy with it and the first video for kids so that they can watch it and not get bored. It’s for kids around ages 5 -12.
V: Why Chess?
D: I like Chess. Chess reflects life.
V: Tell me about your stand-up. What’s your material like?
D: I do an adult show. It’s adult material. It’s not a Screech show, it’s a Dustin Diamond show. I get out there and I talk about the show a little bit, what’s it like to be on it…I talk about what’s it like to be an actor and about being me. Then I gear into more about my personal take on life. I’ve got a whole lot of good reactions and a few bad ones. [laughs]
V: Tell me about the bad ones.
D: Ahh, everyone wants to know about the negatives, don’t they? Well, the few bad ones I’ve got are people that can’t separate reality from fantasy. They want to see me as the character. They want me to be up there goofy, in goofy clothes doing Saturday morning jokes. Those are the people that will never wake up to reality. They are the people who see a cartoon and believe it’s real so I can’t be held responsible for them.
V: What do you do in your spare time when you are not working?
D: I’m always working.
V: Do you not get tired?
D: Of course I get tired. I’m tired right now. I slept until 4 today. Out of the last 14 months, I’ve been home 67 days. But I design video games for fun. But it’s not your high-tech super graphic games…I like point-and-click simple ones.
V: With your hectic schedule and lack of sleep, how do you stay sane?
D: I don’t. I don’t think my head is wired right. But that’s just something you gotta deal with.
V: Do you have any odd habits?
D: Yeah, I play chess. And I do stand-up, that’s odd.
V: Do you have a girlfriend?
D: Yes I do.
V: Do you have any words of wisdom to students?
D: I guess it’s just everything that you do, there will always be people that are going to support you and people that are going to knock you down. And you just have to ignore those who want you to fail and really do your thing.
V: What do you see yourself doing in the future?
D: I don’t know. I’m 26 and the world changes so rapidly but I’m always going to be doing things. I don’t know what they are going to be.
V: What do you think about American Idol?
D: I think it’s good for them but I think they are going to get a better taste of reality the second that people get tired of them and they are forgotten. All of a sudden they can’t get work. I’m not saying it’s definitely going to happen but there is a good chance…you know, one hit wonders. As long as they are grounded and have a back up plan in life, then I think that’s good.
V: Do you still keep in touch with your fans?
D: Yeah, I have a Web site: dustindiamond.net, but not .com. because .com is a hoax Web site that my lawyers are shutting down right now. Mine is .net.
